Gen. Christmas Wish #9

9. A US-based genealogy and history research trip with stops in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York [primarily Chenango Co.]. I have a lot of ancestral lines from those states. Among the stops: Quincy, MA [I'm a John Adam's fan], Boston [Freedom Trail & research], Danvers/Salem & Nurse Homestead [Witchcraft trials victim, Rebecca Nurse numbers among my ancestors], most of Rhode Island [lots of folks from there] and previously mentioned Chenango Co., NY for Simmons research.


Oh, by the way, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas Gen. Wish #8

8. Returning to the US for #8, my next wish is to find out exactly where and when my gggf Isaac Rittenhouse Prall died. A short bio of son Cornelius stated that Isaac died in 1880. The exact date and place of death was not given. A few undocumented family trees give Lancaster, PA as the place. Isaac was last recorded in Clinton Co., OH with daughter Ann Kohler in 1870. Isaac was not living with any of his kids in the 1880 census. Did he die in Ohio? Did he return to Pennsylvania and die there?

For a bonus gift, the exact date of death for Isaac's wife Ann Bathia Rhodes Prall in 1865 would be nice. I have narrowed down to January or February of 1865.

Genie Wish #7

7. My next wish is to travel to Portsmouth and Portsea, Hampshire, England to spend a few days hunting records for documents on the ancestors of NY City tavern keeper John Simmons, who mentioned having property in Portsea in his will.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! [& Wish #6]

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you are having a great one and you all received [and gave] the gifts you wanted.

GCW #6. From Wales to Ireland for a week or so in County Cork to investigate my O'Neil ancestors. After that, a nice train ride north to County Donegal to dig into my McHugh family.

Genie Christmas Wish #5

5. A couple of weeks in Wales to research my Rogers, Pugh and Evans ancestors in Merionethshire. Maybe a few days to determine whether or not my St. John family was actually Welsh, rather than from Antwerp.

Genie Christmas Wish #4

4. The Crail Mystery gets resolved! James Berry Crail, Jr. and Mary A. Jones have been a disappearing act since I started my Crail research. James and Mary pulled a disappearing act in the 1840, 1850, 1860 and 1870 censuses. They appeared in Shelby Co., IN land records in 1851-54. Mary returned in the 1875 city directories for Indianapolis, as a widow. Tracking Mary was possible until death in 1887. James was probably the James Crail who appeared in Hamilton Co., OH tax and church records during the mid-1830s.

I would really like to find a marriage record for the couple, their residences from about 1830-1950 and 1854-1875 and James' date and place of death. It would also be nice to find out exactly how many kids they had.

Christmas Gen. Wish #3

3. Speaking of the Irish.... I have my McHugh family traced back to Co. Donegal, Ireland, but know nothing of the family of John McHugh and his elder brother, Daniel. Donegal records of the McHughs would be fantastic, but even better would be learning the origins of John's wife, Sarah Hickey.

She was born in 1814 in Pennsylvania and married John there in the mid-1830s. Fact about her early life and family are non-existent, so far.

Christmas Gen. Wish #2

2. The journal kept by my great-great-grandmother, Catherine O'Neil Crail miraculously turns up somewhere and falls into my hands. According to my Uncle, Catherine recorded several generations of her family, her life back in Co. Cork, Ireland and life in America. The journal vanished after my grandparents died.

The questions about my Irish heritage that could be answered! The questions about my Crail family that could be answered!

What stories could Catherine have told? I may never know.

Genealogy Christmas Wishes #1

I'm sure that all family historians have a wish list ranging from availability of certain records to stumbling across a treasured family artifact at a yard sale.

There are several on my Christmas wish list. In honor of one of my least favorite Christmas songs, The 12 Days of Christmas, here are 12 days of genealogy wishes. [This will run past Christmas!]

1. The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy brings back "Problem Solving." Problem Solving was a unique course. You were able to spend five days focused on one research brick wall problem, have professional consultants evaluate your research each days and get feedback from other researchers.

Looking into the Haskell family of Gloucester, Mass.

Yes, I am still alive and kicking. Time for genealogy is seldom and a couple of research requests have come up that are occupying most of my time.

I have had a chance to look into my William Haskell - Elinor Foule line. A couple of earlier generations have been unearthed and hopefully some new details. As time permits, I will study the new material, record the data and post new stories.